At present, the Chicago Bears have Jordan Palmer slotted in as their No. 2 quarterback, the current insurance plan behind Jay Cutler. Last year’s backup hero, Josh McCown, is now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, readying to become a full-time starter again for the first time since 2007. And so Bears coach Marc Trestman and general manager Phil Emery are left to plan and adjust and cross their fingers that they can mold another backup as energetic, steady and productive as McCown was.

Palmer appears to be getting first crack at winning that job. And while Emery has indicated that when the free-agent market settles, he may want to try out some of the clearance quarterbacks left on the shelf to see if a viable No. 2 guy is available, that aisle has been picked through pretty thoroughly.

So maybe Palmer, who hasn’t thrown a regular season pass in the NFL since Week 11 of 2010, will enter training camp in July as Cutler’s backup. Or maybe somewhere in free agency or in the later rounds of May’s draft, another option can be found. Trestman said he’s “going to examine all possibilities” and knows what he’s looking for and what he wants from Cutler’s understudy.

The Bears coach detailed his hopes at this week’s NFL owners meetings.

“The No. 1 job of the No. 2 quarterback is to be ready to play and to play well,” Trestman said. “He has to. ... The best term is he has to go in and play efficiently. He can’t turn the ball over. He’s got to live for the next play. … But he’s a very, very important part of your locker room. Because he has to be ready to play efficiently and he’s not going to get the reps to do it. That was the No. 1 value of Josh. It still has to go to his ability to play the game if the No. 1 guy is hurt.”

Besides the positive energy McCown brought every day, his greatest value came in his ability to put points on the board last season when Cutler was out. His 66.5 completion percentage, 1,829 passing yards, 13 touchdown passes and one interception were statistical proof of just how ready he was when called upon. And that’s what the Bears hope to find in whoever the successor in that role is.

But there are intangibles that figure into the equation as well. And Trestman is certainly looking to find a No. 2 quarterback who can be fully engaged in his own growth and the development of the team.

“He has to be extremely good in the meeting room,” Trestman said. “Because that meeting room is the most important office in that building. Everything is controlled by the energy in that room and the camaraderie in that room and the karma in that room. So he has to be that guy. That’s really the most important thing. And if he’s doing that, he’s certainly going to be good in the locker room. The guys in that meeting room, in my opinion, have to be locker room guys. They have to be leaders. So that’s what we’re looking for.”

Can Palmer meet those criteria if he wins the No. 2 job?

“No question Jordan fit that,” Trestman said. “And he got better at it along the way. He was very quiet at first, kind of took it all in. But the quarterbacks respected him immediately because he went to work on his own to learn the offense. He spent a lot of time on his own. And once he learned it, he spent a lot of time mentoring the younger players after practice for those types of things and to get those younger players to develop.”

SuperFanDBS Writer

Do you think that maybe this will be Trestman's style (grab an old guy and ramp him up in your scheme) rather than a youngster? Maybe the guy prefers having an old vet as the #2 over a young draftee. I initially assumed Trestman would get a talented youngster. But if he can easily repeat his success that he had with McCown, then there's an endless supply for cheap vet that fits the mold of Jordan Palmer and McCown.

If McCown fizzles in Tampa, and Palmer flourishes as his replacement here in Chicago, then maybe Trestman truly is magical with QB's. Especially old vets.

Do you think that maybe this will be Trestman's style (grab an old guy and ramp him up in your scheme) rather than a youngster? Maybe the guy prefers having an old vet as the #2 over a young draftee. I initially assumed Trestman would get a talented youngster. But if he can easily repeat his success that he had with McCown, then there's an endless supply for cheap vet that fits the mold of Jordan Palmer and McCown.

If McCown fizzles in Tampa, and Palmer flourishes as his replacement here in Chicago, then maybe Trestman truly is magical with QB's. Especially old vets.

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He may have a comfort factor there. He had great success with an older QB in Quebec.

That and you can not forget Gannon in 2001 with raiders.. Nfl MVP and super bowl after he was supposed to be washed up

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Exactly. Because of all this, I am not going to panic if he brings in a guy I think is all washed up. He has already done that with McCown and it worked out pretty well. I'm just going to wait for it to unfold.

SuperFanDBS Writer

Do you think that maybe this will be Trestman's style (grab an old guy and ramp him up in your scheme) rather than a youngster? Maybe the guy prefers having an old vet as the #2 over a young draftee. I initially assumed Trestman would get a talented youngster. But if he can easily repeat his success that he had with McCown, then there's an endless supply for cheap vet that fits the mold of Jordan Palmer and McCown.

If McCown fizzles in Tampa, and Palmer flourishes as his replacement here in Chicago, then maybe Trestman truly is magical with QB's. Especially old vets.

Click to expand...

I do and I know Emery does as well or he wouldn't have hired Campbell or McCown over the Caleb Hanie's out there. Trestman doesn't want to have to teach a guy how to play the game he wants to teach him how to win in his offense. Jordan Palmer is damn near as old as Cutler. He's 29 and although he hasn't thrown many passes he's been around for a while so he must know something about playing QB.

There's still a need for a young QB to develop and there Trestman should make the call on who. After the 2016 season if Jay hasn't become "all that he can be" he risks being replaced and it might be a good idea if we had our own Aaron Rodgers developing behind him for three year too.

Do you think that maybe this will be Trestman's style (grab an old guy and ramp him up in your scheme) rather than a youngster? Maybe the guy prefers having an old vet as the #2 over a young draftee. I initially assumed Trestman would get a talented youngster. But if he can easily repeat his success that he had with McCown, then there's an endless supply for cheap vet that fits the mold of Jordan Palmer and McCown.

If McCown fizzles in Tampa, and Palmer flourishes as his replacement here in Chicago, then maybe Trestman truly is magical with QB's. Especially old vets.

Click to expand...

I've said in a couple threads I don't think we are drafting a QB this year. We'd be better off taking a backup RB. At least he'd see the field and could contribute right away. Everyone is so worried about Cutler getting hurt. We have zero depth at RB behind Forte besides this Ford kid, and it's not like Forte is getting younger or can't get hurt either.

I think posters have this idea that Trestman comes in, takes a guy like McCown or Palmer or this young rookie everyone is clamoring to draft, throws him into some kind of shaolin training program where once they emerge they can magically play. I don't think that's the case. It's more, "Hey, this Josh guy is smart enough to learn my playbook, experienced enough that it will take less time, and desperate enough to put in the hours necessary to learn it. Here you go, Josh. Have at it. I'll be focusing all my time on teaching this book to this younger guy Cutler with the much stronger arm. He might not be able to learn it as fast, but the reward will be greater once he does get it."

Trestman said it himself after the Redskins game that McCown got no attention or reps from the coaches. Neither will Palmer if he makes it as the #2. What he did well was study the playbook and get himself ready to play. I know that sounds simple, but last season's backup QB success story does not go the same way if a dunce like Charlie Whitehurst is the #2 QB. I think what makes the difference is that it is Trestman's playbook, and that McCown was capable of learning it quickly because of his time coaching.

The actual existence of talent on the offensive side of the ball at WR, RB, TE, and OL gave McCown time and someone to throw the ball to very important too. But none of that works if the guy behind center doesn't know the playbook and how to run the plays.

We don't need to get into the business of developing other team's quarterbacks. That's risky and speculative. We need Trestman to focus on the one that's going to be here guaranteed for the next three years or longer if things work out. Just get a #2 QB ready in case the Bears need a stand in because of injury.

I do and I know Emery does as well or he wouldn't have hired Campbell or McCown over the Caleb Hanie's out there. Trestman doesn't want to have to teach a guy how to play the game he wants to teach him how to win in his offense. Jordan Palmer is damn near as old as Cutler. He's 29 and although he hasn't thrown many passes he's been around for a while so he must know something about playing QB.

There's still a need for a young QB to develop and there Trestman should make the call on who. After the 2016 season if Jay hasn't become "all that he can be" he risks being replaced and it might be a good idea if we had our own Aaron Rodgers developing behind him for three year too.

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I see this idea about Rodgers "developing" for three years behind Farve often on this board. That wasn't Green Bay's plan to have the guy on the bench that long. Farve was like 35 or 36 years old when they drafted Rodgers. Farve was doing his first "I'm going to retire... no wait, I'm coming back," nonsense for the 2006 season. The team was just preparing for his eventual leaving, Farve just dragged it out for three years.

The Bears have time to draft a QB in the next two years before it is an actual need rather than a want.

SuperFanDBS Writer

I see this idea about Rodgers "developing" for three years behind Farve often on this board. That wasn't Green Bay's plan to have the guy on the bench that long. Farve was like 35 or 36 years old when they drafted Rodgers. Farve was doing his first "I'm going to retire... no wait, I'm coming back," nonsense for the 2006 season. The team was just preparing for his eventual leaving, Farve just dragged it out for three years.

The Bears have time to draft a QB in the next two years before it is an actual need rather than a want.

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Oh yeah, I know that but it did pay off well for them because Rodgers came in with full knowledge of the offense and was able to hit the streets running. I'd agree that another RB to compete for that #2 spot would be good or we can count on a few vets being cut loose this June or during camp and maybe we find one there as well. We need more prospects than we have.

As for a QB prospect there isn't a kid who goes by Kwai Chang Caine in this draft is there? He'd already have the shaolin stuff down and we could move right into going through his reads. :lol-027:

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